It was three years ago this very week that Rafael Benítez put an end to one of the most remarkable runs in English football when, on the night of a Champions League tie against Bordeaux, he sent out an unchanged team for the first time in 100 matches. After 99 consecutive games in which he had resolutely rotated his playing personnel, it was tempting to conclude that the decision had been taken not on the usual grounds of form and fitness but simply to avoid providing journalists with a banner headline.

You don't think so? You prefer to think it might just have been a coincidence? Then look at his analysis of the background to the decision to include Fernando Torres in the starting line-up for Saturday's Premier League match at Craven Cottage while the player was still suffering from the effects of a recent groin injury.

"The question is," Benítez said, "if you don't play Torres from the beginning, you will be talking about why he is not playing. So it is a difficult decision." The first "you" in that explanation referred to the manager himself. The second to the journalists questioning him in the post-defeat press conference. The inescapable conclusion, m'lud, is that Benítez takes the media's response into consideration when it comes to making his selections.

Other managers may do that, although it is impossible to imagine Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger or Carlo Ancelotti taking the effect of their critics' opinions into account when mulling over the team sheet. But surely someone of Benítez's standing should not be allowing the views of the media even to cross his mind. And if, for some reason, he does so, then Liverpool's supporters would rather not be told about it.

Torres scored Liverpool's only goal against Fulham, but was clearly not completely fit and Benítez was forced to withdraw him after 63 minutes. Even his withdrawal at that point, with the match still in the balance, encouraged many to believe that the manager was saving his star striker for tomorrow's visit to Lyon in the Champions' League.

The true state of Torres' health was revealed yesterday, when it emerged that a hernia has been diagnosed and that an operation may be necessary. By selecting him for the match at Craven Cottage, however, Benítez revealed a lack of faith in the remainder of his strike force. Even with David Ngog unavailable, he could have chosen from Dirk Kuyt, Ryan Babel and Andriy Voronin. Although most people in his position would consider Kuyt a perfectly acceptable replacement, Benítez decided long ago that his best position was out on the wing, and neither Babel nor Voronin has impressed since arriving at Anfield. So, caught between the inadequacy of his squad and a reluctance to provide his detractors with free ammunition, Benítez subjected a half-fit player to an unnecessary trial.

The evidence of his four and a bit seasons in English football suggests that this manager's principal asset is his way of persuading players to rebound from unpromising positions to win big matches. The European Cup final of 2005 was the proof of that, even though his initial response to Liverpool's 3-0 deficit at half-time was to conceive a tactical shuffle that inadvertently required the presence on the pitch of 12 players. Once that had been brought to his attention, the famous comeback was a tribute to his acumen as well as to the team's sense of pride. Last week's defeat of Manchester United confirmed that special and precious gift, which ranks somewhat higher than the ability to create a touchy-feely empathy with his players.

But those were one-off events. What Benítez does not possess – and if he did, we would have seen it by now – is the ability to engender the consistency that wins the Premier League. Since his inconsistency provides English football with an element of unpredictability and those of us who chronicle its fortunes with a reliable supply of good stories, perhaps we should be grateful.

Abu Dhabi is more computer game than real racing track

Everybody seemed to love the new Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. So how come I'd fallen asleep in front of the TV long before the drivers made their first pit stops? Fortunately some deep-conditioned reflex woke me in time for Jenson Button's final charge, in which the new world champion proved his mettle but also showed, by failing to overtake Mark Webber, that you can spend £800m on special effects but still not come up with a track that is fit for its basic purpose.

Formula One has been getting closer to the condition of computer games for the past 10 years, and on Sunday the merger was effectively concluded. The vaulting aerial shots, the tunnelled pit-lane exit, the Stars Wars architecture and the total absence of human clutter made it the realisation of Bernie Ecclestone's most cherished dreams but a bit of a nightmare for those of us with fond memories of oil-spattered garage floors, the late-night noises of mechanics at work and the sight of drivers being tested by circuits that followed the erratic natural contours of the open road rather than the curves of a computer programme inscribed on a desert. This is grand prix racing for people who leave Las Vegas believing they've seen the Eiffel Tower or the Bridge of Sighs. In other words, the future.

Radcliffe should come clean on fitness to race

Whatever Paula Radcliffe may think, it gives no one any pleasure to see a great athlete crying with pain, as she did in New York on Sunday. And she has every right to keep schtum about her injuries in advance of an event. But after the equally tear-stained experiences of Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, it might be wise to adopt a policy of complete transparency in the run-up to London 2012. That way she can avoid the retrospective accusation that she has deprived a fit athlete of a place in

the team.

Wenger jettisons jacket in quest for perfection

Favourite moment of the weekend: Arsène Wenger reacting to Eduardo da Silva's appalling miss in the 65th minute of the north London derby by turning on his heel and hurling his suit jacket at his seat in the dugout. His team were 3-0 up at the time.